495 King American, emphasis on locally produced $$$ If you’ve been living under a fricken rock (for the last month) then you likely missed King Street’s newest member of the culinary club. Stars has been one of the most highly anticipated restaurants to open in the area since The Macintosh or The Grocery—and, when you’re going up against those two for patrons, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Planning to open in August before the PGA tournament, it finally opened the first week of October – just in time for my birthday. And, while we’re comparing it to

293 King St. Asian, street food $ How to save $$: Eat here, not at Basil. I love Thai food. And I (used to) love Basil. But, then I started eating at more authentic Thai restaurants (think: hole-in-the-wall with lots of Buddahs), and realized Basil might be good, but cheap Thai food is better. Fire may not be decorated with Buddah’s and it serves food other than Thai (which, I’d argue, is a good thing)… but this is the new place to go for Thai food on King Street. The best part? One-third the price of Basil! Fire is

149 Wentworth French/American $$$$- Fine dining experience How to save $: Best bet is to go during restaurant week but even that will put you at $85+ a person after wine, tax and tip! Eager to jump on Restaurant Week early, we made reservations at Circa 1886—a restaurant we’ve always wanted to try. Deriving its name from the construction of the Wentworth Mansion that it shares a property with, the restaurant is housed in a great historic building with lots of character. The first thing I noticed is that Circa 1886 is much more formal than I imagined. Plenty

350 King Thai: Lunch, Dinner $$ How to Save $: It’s on Restaurant.com, so be sure to print off a coupon before dining Looking for some ethnic food on a budget with a good atmosphere? Look no further than Tasty Thai & Sushi, the sister restaurant to Taste of Thai in West Ashley. Be sure to sit in the front of the restaurant, so you can people-watch on King Street. If that’s what you’re after, I’d suggest going on a Thursday through Saturday night, when things are a bit more “interesting.” Tasty Thai and Sushi looks pretty cool from the

4 Cannon $$$ – Dinner & Happy Hour Southern/Soul, International How to save $: Get a good sampling at Happy Hour where apps are between $5 and $7, wine is discounted and beers are BOGO The Grocery, located on Cannon Street, is one of the new up-and-coming restaurants in Charleston. Well, according to Charleston City Paper or really any other food blog for that matter. But, if you read Eat King Street, you’ll see that it’s not one of our favorites. I mean, if you like stuffy atmospheres and high prices, this might just be your place. I don’t mean to

98 Broad French $$-Mid How to save $: Specials are offered each night (Thursdays are Fondue Night) Craving some French food but not craving the prices of La Fourchette or even 39 Rue de Jean? Look no further than Broad St. (right off of King). This hole-in-the-wall restaurant isn’t too hard to miss, what with all the blue and red French flag decoration on the sidewalk. Commonly known as Fast and French, don’t walk past it just because it’s real name is Gaulart and Maliclet. Tricky. The best time to go is on Thursday night because that’s fondue night –

460 King Thai $$$-High How to save $: You can’t. Ohhh herro… (is it more or less racist since that is a Chinese impression and this is for a Thai restaurant? THINK ABOUT IT.) We’ve found the best Asian cuisine on King Street. But apparently, lots of other King Street-ers have found it, too, given the long waits. It has been rated the #1 Restaurant in Charleston on Urbanspoon for some time now (still holding 87% with over 1,300+ ratings!). Paired with no reservations or call-ahead, this makes for a restaurant you can only visit if you don’t have any plans for

479B King American $$$$ – Plan on dropping some cash here Part of Indigo Restaurant Group: Includes Oak Steakhouse, O-Ku, & The Cocktail Club The Macintosh is Charleston’s highest-rated restaurant right now on Urbanspoon. Coming in with a 90% rating, you’d expect the food to be good. The good news is: you’ll be right. It may very well get my vote for the best dinner in Charleston. At the very least, it’s secured a top-three rank. And, this past week, it earned a nomination from Bon Appetit magazine as one of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America. Located on Upper King, the big glass doors showcase the inside from the street, but, when we first

68 Wentworth American, Southern/Soul $$$ How to save $: Use a restaurant.com gift card: we got great deal with $50 off a $100 tab. Ended up paying $67 (meal, wine, tax & tip) for much more expensive meal. I try to make it a point to not do too much research on restaurants before we go to them. I kept the same philosophy on our visit to Wentworth Grill–I had heard of it before from Restaurants.com (which is always a slight hint that they’re desperate for business). I had an inclination that it was attached to a hotel, maybe, but other than

420 King $$$ – Dinner every night Italian Italian food is my very favorite genre of food, so I’ve been wanting to try Osteria la Bottiglia for the past few months. We’ve recently walked by and heard live music, so we made sure to call ahead to see when the band is there. On Wednesday nights beginning at 7:30, they have live music playing in the front of the restaurant. When we arrived, we weren’t sure which of the two doors to enter from King Street, but decided on the open one– even though we had to walk straight through the